BENGALURU: The Lokayukta police’s closure report in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) sites allotment case has come as a much-needed breather for embattled Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. While legal processes in the case will continue and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe hangs like the Sword of Damocles, the latest development seems to have come in handy for the CM to regain some lost ground, politically.
The consolation in the case — which rattled the state administration and put his party on the back foot — comes amid his preparation to present his 16th state budget, his party gearing up for the local bodies’ polls, and the rising clamour for a change of guard in the party.
The budget will be presented on March 7 during the session that starts from March 3. The report, which came days before the start of the session, is expected to help Congress defang the Opposition’s attack over the issue in the Assembly and the Council. At this juncture, an adverse report from the Lokayukta would have immediately pushed the CM and his government into a major crisis.
As expected, the Congress is using the Lokayukta police’s clean chit to buttress its argument that the MUDA case was a politically motivated move to tarnish the CM’s image. The Opposition, however, is questioning the very credibility of the report by the police officers who are under the administrative control of the state government, with Siddaramaiah himself at its helm. Several senior BJP leaders have even questioned why the sites were returned if everything was above board.
The MUDA had allotted 14 sites in the upmarket Vijayanagar locality in Mysuru to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi as compensation for acquiring 3.16 acres of land in Kesare village on the outskirts of Mysuru. After the case snowballed into a major controversy and the Governor assented to prosecute the CM, the sites were returned to the authority. The Congress has been maintaining that the sites were returned to avoid any further controversy.
The details of the 800-page report submitted by the Lokayukta police to the registry of the Special Courts to try cases against sitting and former MLAs/MPs are yet to be known.
Legal aspects aside, many in the Congress believe that the Lokayukta report has given more strength to Siddaramaiah. The development is also likely to embolden Congress leaders demanding the appointment of a new Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief. A section of Congress leaders, including a few ministers, are said to have asked the party high command to appoint a new president for the state unit as per its “one person, one post” rule.
After the 2023 Assembly polls, DK Shivakumar continued as the KPCC president, even after he took over as the Deputy Chief Minister with two high-profile portfolios — Water Resources and Bengaluru Development. While the high command is likely to take its own time on the demand for a change of guard, Shivakumar would certainly not be keen to give up the party post, as that would diminish his authority in the party, as well as in the government.
Those backing Shivakumar believe that he has been able to devote adequate time to party work and ensure synergy between the party and the government. The party did well in the bypolls to three Assembly segments though its performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was below its own expectations.
The next big test for the party and its leadership would be the local body polls, including elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The party has asked its leaders to be prepared for the polls that are likely to be held in the next two to three months.
Many senior Congress leaders say the preparations have already begun and they are confident of winning a maximum number of seats. According to them, the government’s performance, including implementation of the guarantees, will be the major issue in those elections and people will not accept the Opposition’s allegations in the MUDA case, as the Lokayukta has already given its report.
While the Congress focuses on strengthening the organisation at the grassroots level by doing well in the local body elections and ensuring that the personal ambitions of leaders do not impact the party’s interests, Siddaramaiah will be hoping to win his own battles, one at a time.
In a notice to Snehamayi Krishna, the complainant in the case, the Lokayukta police stated that the allegations against the accused were not proved due to lack of evidence. While the report will be scrutinised by the court, Krishna, a Mysuru-based social activist, has vowed to pursue his legal fight.